M.: The Vedanta teaches a man to know that all but the non-dual Brahman is laden with misery,
therefore to leave off all desires for enjoyment, to be free from love or hate, thoroughly to cut the knot of the ego appearing as ‘I’, you, he, this, that, mine and yours, to rid himself of the notion of ‘I’ and ‘mine’,
to live unconcerned with the pairs of opposites as heat and cold, pain and pleasure, etc.,
to remain fixed in the perfect knowledge of the equality of all and making no distinction of any kind,
never to be aware of anything but Brahman,
and always to be experiencing the Bliss of the nondual Self.
never to be aware of anything but Brahman,
and always to be experiencing the Bliss of the nondual Self.
Though Vedanta is read and well understood, if dispassion is not practised, the desire for pleasures will not fade away. There is no dislike for pleasing things and the desire for them cannot leave the person.
Because desire is not checked, love, anger, etc., the ego or the ‘false-I’ in the obnoxious body, the sense of possession represented by ‘I’ or ‘mine’ of things agreeable to the body, the pairs of opposites like pleasure and pain, and false values, will not disappear. However well read one may be, unless the teachings are put into practice, one is not really learned. Only like a parrot the man will be repeating that Brahman alone is real and all else is false.
In the Suta Samhita it is said that those desirous of enjoyments and yet yearning for liberation are surely bitten by the deadly serpent of samsara and therefore dazed by its poison.
63-69. D.: In conclusion who are fit for enquiry into the Self?
M.: Only those who have all the four requisite qualities in full, are fit,
and not others, whether versed in Vedas and shastras or otherwise highly accomplished, nor practisers of severe austerities, nor those strictly observing the religious rites or vows or reciting mantras, nor worshippers of any kind, nor those giving away large gifts, nor wandering pilgrims etc. Just as the Vedic rites are not for the non-regenerate so also enquiry is not for the unqualified.
The sruti says: “The one whose mind is in equipoise, senses controlled, whose activities have ceased and who possesses fortitude” is fit for this.
M.: Nonsense! No Shastra is required to know the Self.
89-90. Vasishta also has said to the same effect.
Shastra, Guru and upadesa are all traditional and do not straightway make the seeker directly realise the Self.
The purity of the seeker’s mind is the sole means for realisation and not shastra nor the guru.
The Self can be realised by one’s own acute discernment and by no other means.
All shastras agree on this point.
91. From this it is clear that except by enquiry the Self can never be realised, not even by learning Vedanta.
93. M.: In the body, senses etc., the concept “I” persists.
With a one pointed mind turned inwards to look out for this “I” or the Self, which is the inmost Being within the five sheaths, is the enquiry into the Self.
To seek elsewhere outside the body by an oral recital of Vedanta Shastra or a critical study of its words, cannot be called enquiry into the Self which can only be a thorough investigation into the true nature of the Self by a keen mind.
94-96. D.: Can the Self not be known by reading and understanding the shastras?
M.: No.
For the Self is Being-Knowledge-Bliss, different from the gross, subtle and causal bodies, witnessing the three states of waking, dream and deep sleep. Always to exercise the vocal organs in reading the shastras, or with a thorough knowledge of grammar, logic and diction to critically examine the scripture and make out its meaning, cannot reveal the Self which is within
D.: How can it be realised?
M.: By the mind to examine the nature of the five sheaths,
by experience to determine them,
then to discard each of them step by step
“this is not the Self — this is not the Self”,
and by mind thus grown subtle to look for the Self
and realise It as the witnessing Consciousness
lying beyond the five sheaths — forms the whole process.
The Self cannot be seen without.
It is overspread by and lies hidden in the five sheaths.
In order to find It, the intellect must be made to turn inwards and search within, not to look for It in the shastras.
Will any man in his senses search in a forest for a thing lost in his home?
The search must be in the place where the thing lies hidden.
In the same way the Self covered over by the five sheaths must be looked for within them and not among the shastras. The shastras are not the place for It.
M.: Just as the scholar learns from books, so the other learns from the master.
Later, enquiry remains the same for both.
110-112. Their perplexity of minds does not allow the last two grades of seekers to take to enquiry.
Their minds are more readily composed by yoga,
which is more suited to them than enquiry.
The first two grades of seekers readily profit by enquiry which is more suited to them than yoga.
113-114. In Dhyana Deepika, Sri Vidyaranyaswami has said:
“The path of enquiry cannot lead to success to the seekers whose minds are confused. To bring down the false notion of their minds, yoga is necessary.
The minds of those who are fully qualified, are not confused but remain one pointed; only the veiling power of Ignorance still hides the Self from them; they await only awakening.
Enquiry is the process of awakening; therefore it best suits them.”
115-118. Yoga can be successful only after a long, steady, earnest, diligent and cautious practice without needless strain.
Heedful
D.: Why should one be so heedful about it?
M.: When the attempt is made to fix the mind in the Self, it gets restive and drags the man through the senses to the objects.
However resolute and learned the man may be, his mind remains wayward, strong, mulish, and hard to restrain.
Wanton by nature, it cannot remain steady for a moment;
it must run here, there and everywhere; now it dwells in the nether regions and in a trice it flies up in the sky; it moves in all the directions of the compass; and it is capricious like a monkey. It is hard to fix it.
To do so, one must be heedful
119-121. In the Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna asked Sri Bhagavan: ‘O Krishna! Is not the mind always capricious, disturbing to the man and too strong to be checked? It is easier to hold the air in the fist than to control the mind’.
In the Yoga Vasishta, Sri Rama asked Vasishta: ‘O master! Is it not impossible to control the mind? One may sooner drink up the oceans or lift up Mt. Meru or swallow flaming fire than control the mind.’ From the words of Rama and Arjuna, and our own experience, there can be no doubt that it is exceedingly difficult to control the mind however able and heroic one may be.
122-124.
D.: Control of mind being so difficult, how can yoga be practised at all?
M.: By dint of practice and dispassion, the mind can be brought under control.
The same has been said by Sri Bhagavan to Arjuna and by Vasishta to Sri Rama. Sri Krishna said : “O Son of Kunti!
There is no doubt that the mind is wayward and difficult to control.
Nevertheless by dint of practice and dispassion it can be controlled
.” Vasishta said: “O Rama, though the mind is hard to control yet it must be subdued by dispassion and effort even at the cost of wringing your hands, clenching your teeth and holding down the senses and limbs; it must be accomplished by will power.”
Therefore intense effort is necessary for the purpose.
imp
128.
D.: Please explain this yoga.
M.: With an intense desire for Liberation, reaching a Guru, hearing from him the non-dual Brahman shining forth as BeingKnowledge-Bliss of the Self,
D.: How can it be realised?
M.: By the mind to examine the nature of the five sheaths,
by experience to determine them,
then to discard each of them step by step
“this is not the Self — this is not the Self”,
and by mind thus grown subtle to look for the Self
and realise It as the witnessing Consciousness
lying beyond the five sheaths — forms the whole process.
The Self cannot be seen without.
It is overspread by and lies hidden in the five sheaths.
In order to find It, the intellect must be made to turn inwards and search within, not to look for It in the shastras.
Will any man in his senses search in a forest for a thing lost in his home?
The search must be in the place where the thing lies hidden.
In the same way the Self covered over by the five sheaths must be looked for within them and not among the shastras. The shastras are not the place for It.
M.: Just as the scholar learns from books, so the other learns from the master.
Later, enquiry remains the same for both.
110-112. Their perplexity of minds does not allow the last two grades of seekers to take to enquiry.
Their minds are more readily composed by yoga,
which is more suited to them than enquiry.
The first two grades of seekers readily profit by enquiry which is more suited to them than yoga.
113-114. In Dhyana Deepika, Sri Vidyaranyaswami has said:
“The path of enquiry cannot lead to success to the seekers whose minds are confused. To bring down the false notion of their minds, yoga is necessary.
The minds of those who are fully qualified, are not confused but remain one pointed; only the veiling power of Ignorance still hides the Self from them; they await only awakening.
Enquiry is the process of awakening; therefore it best suits them.”
115-118. Yoga can be successful only after a long, steady, earnest, diligent and cautious practice without needless strain.
Heedful
D.: Why should one be so heedful about it?
M.: When the attempt is made to fix the mind in the Self, it gets restive and drags the man through the senses to the objects.
However resolute and learned the man may be, his mind remains wayward, strong, mulish, and hard to restrain.
Wanton by nature, it cannot remain steady for a moment;
it must run here, there and everywhere; now it dwells in the nether regions and in a trice it flies up in the sky; it moves in all the directions of the compass; and it is capricious like a monkey. It is hard to fix it.
To do so, one must be heedful
119-121. In the Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna asked Sri Bhagavan: ‘O Krishna! Is not the mind always capricious, disturbing to the man and too strong to be checked? It is easier to hold the air in the fist than to control the mind’.
In the Yoga Vasishta, Sri Rama asked Vasishta: ‘O master! Is it not impossible to control the mind? One may sooner drink up the oceans or lift up Mt. Meru or swallow flaming fire than control the mind.’ From the words of Rama and Arjuna, and our own experience, there can be no doubt that it is exceedingly difficult to control the mind however able and heroic one may be.
122-124.
D.: Control of mind being so difficult, how can yoga be practised at all?
M.: By dint of practice and dispassion, the mind can be brought under control.
The same has been said by Sri Bhagavan to Arjuna and by Vasishta to Sri Rama. Sri Krishna said : “O Son of Kunti!
There is no doubt that the mind is wayward and difficult to control.
Nevertheless by dint of practice and dispassion it can be controlled
.” Vasishta said: “O Rama, though the mind is hard to control yet it must be subdued by dispassion and effort even at the cost of wringing your hands, clenching your teeth and holding down the senses and limbs; it must be accomplished by will power.”
Therefore intense effort is necessary for the purpose.
imp
128.
D.: Please explain this yoga.
M.: With an intense desire for Liberation, reaching a Guru, hearing from him the non-dual Brahman shining forth as BeingKnowledge-Bliss of the Self,
understanding It though indirectly yet as clearly as one understands Vishnu etc.,
turning the mind one pointedly to this Brahman, without taking to enquiry by reflection (manana) always meditating on the non-dual Self of Being-Knowledge-Bliss, attributeless and undifferentiated, is called yoga.
By its practice the mind becomes tranquil and can gradually go to samadhi. In samadhi it will experience the Supreme Bliss.
129-130.
D.: Has any other said so before?
M.: Yes. Sri Bhagavan has said: The yogi who, controlling the mind, always turns it upon the Self, becomes perfectly calm, and ultimately gains Me i.e., the Bliss of Liberation.
The mind of the yogi who always practises yoga, will be steady like a flame protected from the breeze and without movement will pass into samadhi.
131-133. Similarly by enquiry, the mind readily gains peace and samadhi.
D.: What is this enquiry?
M.: After hearing from the Guru about the nature of the Self which in the shastras is spoken of as Brahman or BeingKnowledge-Bliss,
to gain a clear indirect knowledge,
then according to upadesa and by intelligent reasoning to enquire and find out the Self
which is Pure Knowledge,
and the non Self which is objective and insentient like the ego,
to discern and sift them,
then directly to experience them as different from each other,
later on by meditation to extinguish all that is objective,
and to absorb into the Self the residual mind left over as non-dual,
ends in the direct experience of Supreme Bliss.
Here it has been described in brief, but the shastras deal with it elaborately
2-4. D.: What is this path of enquiry?
M.: From the shastras it is well known to consist of sravana, manana, nidhidhyasana and samadhi
i.e., hearing the Truth, reflection, meditation and Blissful Peace. The Vedas themselves declare it to be so. “My dear, the Self must be heard from the master, reflected and meditated upon.” In another place it is said that in Blissful Peace the Self must be realised.
...until when does shravana continue?.......
The same idea has been repeated by Sri Sankaracharya in his Vakyavrtti, namely that until the meaning of the sacred text “I am Brahman” is realised in all its true significance, one must be practising sravana etc.
5-7. In Chitra Deepika, Sri Vidyaranyaswami has said that enquiry is the means of knowledge and it consists in hearing the Truth, reflection and meditation;
only the state of blissful Peace of awareness in which Brahman alone exists and nothing else, is the true “nature” of Knowledge;
the non-revival of the knot of the ego parading as “I” which has been lost once for all, is its “effect”;
always to remain fixed as ‘I am the Supreme Self’ just as strongly, unequivocally and unerringly as the heretofore ignorant identification “I am the body” is its end;
liberation is its fruit.
From this it follows that only hearing etc. is the enquiry into the Self
8-10. To hear the Supreme Truth, reflect and meditate on it, and to remain in Samadhi, form together -
'The enquiry into the Self.'
imp
11-12. To analyse sravana under the five categories:-
Intense desire to be liberated gives rise to it;
always to be hearing of the non-dual Brahman is its nature;
the complete removal of that aspect of the veiling power of Ignorance which says, “It (Brahman) does not exist” is its effect;
non recurrence of this veiling power is its limit;
a firm indirect knowledge is its fruit
Only he who is eager to be liberated will seek the knowledge of the Self and take to hearing it.
No other is interested in It.
Therefore eagerness to be liberated is the essential requisite for this part of enquiry, viz. sravana.
14. D.: Just now you said that always to be hearing of the non-dual Self is the nature of sravana. Who is this non-dual Self?
M.: He is famous in the srutis as the Consciousness beyond the gross, subtle and causal bodies, apart from the five sheaths and witness of the waking, dream and sleep states.
54. D.: Do these three — Being, Knowledge and Bliss form the qualities or the nature of the Self?
M.: These are not qualities but the very Self. Just as heat, light, and redness form the nature of fire and are not its qualities, so also Being, Knowledge and Bliss are the nature of the Self
68. D.: What is the “effect” of this sravana?
M.: It destroys that veiling part of ignorance which hitherto made one think “Where is this non-dual Self?
Nowhere”.
To destroy this ignorant conclusion of the non-existence of the non-dual Self is its “effect”.
69-70. D.: How long should one continue sravana?
M.: Until the doubt of the non-existence of the non-dual Being does not rear its head again.
The non-recurrence of this doubt is said to be the “limit” of the process of sravana
imp
D.: What is the “fruit” of sravana?
M.: When once for all the non-belief in the non-duality of Being is destroyed, no sacred text or tricky argument can make the seeker deviate from his faith.
All obstructions to his faith thus removed, he remains steady in his indirect knowledge of non-dual Being.
This is the “fruit” of sravana.
71. D.: What is this indirect knowledge?
M.: To know the true nature of the inmost Self, not by direct experience but by a study of the shastras, is called indirect Knowledge.
Although one does not see Vishnu face to face yet through the evidence of the shastras one believes in His existence;
this forms only common (samanya) knowledge.
Similarly a common knowledge of non-duality of Brahman gained through the advaita shastras is indirect knowledge
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